


Synergy

by scy



Category: The Vampire Diaries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-06
Updated: 2010-05-06
Packaged: 2017-10-09 08:28:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/85109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cooperation can come in unexpected forms</p>
            </blockquote>





	Synergy

**Author's Note:**

> **seperis** as always, offered invaluable advice and prodding.

It had been easy enough to get into the house, and the one vampire that had been inside tried to run away before turning around and attacking. They made their way through the house, searching for the artifact they had heard was inside.

"This is starting to freak me out," Alaric said. "Just how much of a crazy inventor was Jonathon Gilbert?"

"We didn't have the internet, so you had a lot of time to spare," Damon said as he led the way down the basement stairs. He didn't need the light, but yanked the cord hanging from the ceiling and Alaric avoided tripping over a large trunk. "Here we go." He flipped the lid up and began pawing through the contents.

Alaric saw a couple of old journals, and grabbed those, and Damon put a small pouch in his jacket pocket. As they headed for the door, Alaric thought he saw something on Damon's face and took a second look.

"You're bleeding," Alaric said, and knew it was an obvious observation, but it surprised him.

Damon brought a hand to his nose and grimaced. "Fantastic, we need to get out of here."

"What's going on?"

"There's vervain in the air," Damon said and coughed.

"Guess they were expecting us."

"Nobody thinks a human actually wants to work with vampires." Damon stumbled and braced a hand on the wall, and Alaric watched him to see if he needed help.

"If it doesn't kill you, what good is it?" Alaric asked.

"It paralyzes us, makes us sick," Damon said and spat blood. "This much of it could knock me out for awhile."

Alaric urged him out into the daylight. "That means you couldn't defend yourself."

"That's the idea," Damon said, and Alaric grabbed his arm and supported him the rest of the way to the car.

"Just get in," Alaric said when Damon looked at him blankly, and was unnerved by how easily Damon obeyed him."I'm taking you home."

"Sounds good," Damon said, and rested his head against the window, and was silent the entire way to the boarding house. Nobody else was around, and as Alaric helped Damon inside, he was hyper-conscious of the fact that he had Damon alone and vulnerable. If he wanted to hurt him, there wasn't a lot that Damon could do to stop him.

Damon let go of Alaric and moved slowly up the stairs, Alaric right behind him, waiting to see if he was going to lose his balance. He had the privilege of watching Damon list to one side and prop himself up for a second before he kept going. When he reached the bed, Damon simply flopped onto it, not bothering to look around to see where Alaric had gotten to.

When he shifted onto his side, one arm on his stomach, the other stretched out, Alaric moved to stand in his line of sight.

"Is it any better?"

Damon's head moved slightly. "Not really."

"What helps?"

"A couple of pints," Damon said, and ignored Alaric's glare. "Otherwise, I just have to sleep it off." His gaze shifted to Alaric. "Did you want to try and take advantage of this?"

Alaric shrugged. He had considered it, but mostly wanted a shower. "Mind if I borrow a couple towels and get cleaned up?"

"Help yourself," Damon said.

The hot water felt wonderful and Alaric let the water pressure pound the tension out of his back. When he was mostly dry, he went out to check on Damon.

"Hey." Alaric nudged Damon's leg, and elicited a groan. "Do you keep any blood in the house?"

"Downstairs," Damon said, and crossed his arms over his chest and didn't open his eyes.

"In the fridge?" Alaric asked.

"Yeah."

Alaric found the kitchen to be as clean and contradictory as the rest of the house, with modern appliances nestled among antique fixtures, and there were bags of blood resting on the inside door of the refrigerator. He wasn't sure how much Damon needed, and grabbed two and went back upstairs.

Alaric set the bags down by Damon's head. "Here you go."

Damon reached out and grabbed one and drained it in seconds and then moved on to the second. When he'd finished them, he opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Alaric. "How's restraining your better nature going?"

"I used the last of your shampoo," Alaric said, feeling childish, but he grinned when Damon rolled his eyes.

"How am I going to recover?"

"Not my problem," Alaric said, and hopped up on the bed and pulled the journals out of his jacket.

"Why bother?" Damon asked.

"I might be getting paid to be a teacher, but I'm a historian too, and this town has an interesting past."

"Yes, not every town can claim that they're pursuing a vendetta against vampires," Damon said.

"It's a great selling point," Alaric said.

"Most people come here for the brittle," Damon said.

"There's a bigger market for vampires." It still seemed like one of the stupider fascinations to Alaric, because if something like that was real, it wouldn't be smart to go looking for a creature that liked to rip out throats and drink blood. Still, that was what he had done and he was currently spending a lot of time with one.

"I'd rather not be famous."

"Never?"

Damon eased himself up until he was leaning on the headboard and watched Alaric page through one of the journals. "No, I was happier when people didn't pay attention to my every move."

"You're sort of on the wrong track then, I got the pitch from Sheriff Forbes the other day about how much you helped the Council."

"That's not the same thing."

"How so?"

"It's just the Council, not the whole town."

"You don't want people to like you?" As if Alaric hadn't figured out as much in dealing with Damon.

"Oh, I hate them," Damon said. "But it's nice when they need me."

Alaric blinked. "That makes little to no sense."

"So Stefan tells me repeatedly."

"Speaking of your brother, where is he?"

"Somewhere with the lovely Miss Gilbert. They may have been trying to do something with Jeremy. I don't know, mending fences."

"He's still angry," Alaric said. He'd talked to Jeremy about some of what was bothering him, and that kind of hurt wasn't going to vanish overnight.

"I guess." Damon didn't look interested in Jeremy's emotional well being, and Alaric sighed.

"What I mean is, if I leave, are you going to collapse and pull a dramatic stunt?"

Damon smiled. "No, I'm good."

"All right." Alaric got up and passed Damon one of the journals. "This one looks like something you'd be interested in, it's full of Gilbert's ramblings about the things in the forest that were eating the residents of the town."

"Thanks," Damon said dryly. "Nostalgia does induce nausea, so my afternoon is set."

Alaric grinned at him and left. He didn't worry about Damon, that would have been bordering on them actually being friends, instead of two guys who got together to kill vampires every so often. He didn't dwell on what had happened when they got drunk together, and if Damon didn't bring it up, Alaric wasn't going to either. He transcribed large sections of the journals and was cross referencing supernatural historical events with a time line of the country when he got an email from Jeremy.

That wasn't unusual, what was were the contents of the email, which were excerpts of a couple more of John Gilbert's journals, apparently released from the town archives or liberated from Uncle John.

'Do you want to see the rest?' Jeremy asked.

'That would be great, you know how excited I get about this stuff.'

'*ha ha*'

He didn't have free time until Thursday night, and when he knocked on the door, Jeremy answered, and leaned toward Alaric with relief. "Help, my kitchen has been taken over."

"What?"

"Stefan's brother is over and he's making dinner."

Alaric's eyes widened. "Are you here by yourself?"

"Elena and Stefan are at the movies or parked in a car somewhere making out or something, they snuck up there a couple minutes ago," Jeremy said, and looked very tired. "But Damon's doing a bunch of things with knives and I think he might be humming." Jeremy hurried Alaric inside. "I need another adult in here to keep him in line."

Alaric laughed. "If you think anybody can keep Damon in line, then I've got to share something with you, it's a losing battle."

"Try," Jeremy said. "Otherwise I'm going to go nuts." He glanced over his shoulder. "It's just so weird knowing that there's a vampire making dinner in the kitchen."

Alaric silently agreed that something like that would throw him too. "You could get started on your summer book list," Alaric said, and got a snort of disgust. "All right, I'll see what I can do. If nothing else, I can distract him."

"Thank you." Jeremy hurried into the living room, and seconds later Alaric heard the sound of a video game. He took a deep breath, and steeled himself, then went into the kitchen.

Damon was wielding a large knife and mincing garlic efficiently, and then dropped a handful into a pan and stirred it. "I take it you're the reinforcements."

"You guessed it," Alaric said and came over and rested a hip against the edge of the counter. "Why are you bothering him?"

"I'm not, actually." Damon gestured with the knife, and Alaric leaned out of the way. "Did you want to stay for dinner?"

"Does Elena know you're here?"

"Of course she does."

"She's all right with you being over here alone with her little brother?" Alaric asked in a low voice.

"Elena doesn't have a problem with it."

"Are you sure?"

"You're not actually her father," Damon said, and Alaric glared at him.

"I know, and I guess you're feeling better, you're pissing me off."

Damon smiled brightly. "I am, actually."

"Great," Alaric said, and sniffed, whatever Damon was making smelled enticing.

"You can cook?" Alaric frowned. "Why do you cook?"

"It's a good way to blend in," Damon said, and Alaric eyed him dubiously.

"You've been a chef? That I can't picture."

"I didn't say that, it's a useful skill, and I like to eat."

"Which begs the question of why you bother." Alaric stared into the pan and saw chicken, as well as garlic, onion, and other vegetables, all simmering while Damon stirred them with absent expertise.

"It's fun," Damon said and held out a spoonful of vegetables to Alaric. "Here, have a taste."

Alaric opened his mouth and took a bite. As he chewed, he nodded in shock. "It's good."

Damon glanced back at the pan. "I learned when I left home."

"After you became a vampire?"

"No, during the war." Damn poked the vegetables again and added a pinch of pepper and then stirred a couple more times and turned the burner off. He turned around and grabbed a plate and dished himself up a portion, and then took the lid off another pan and ladled out a helping of sauce and then brushed past Alaric. "If you want, go ahead and have some, I'll see if this tempts the teenager out of his sulk."

Alaric couldn't help asking. "If it doesn't?"

Damon shrugged. "Then he goes hungry." He left with the plate and returned without it moments later, smiling in satisfaction.

"You won him over," Alaric said. "Either that or he was just too hungry to care."

"Whichever, it doesn't matter," Damon said. "He said he's got those things to show you when you want to see them."

"Have you taken a look?" Alaric asked.

"I know it already," Damon said. "I lived it."

"There might be something in there," Alaric said, and Damon looked bored.

"Like I said, reliving the past isn't my idea of a good time, not when it included watching people you knew being hunted down and then you got shot on top of all that." Damon offered Alaric a second helping. "But you go on, see if Johnathon Gilbert has any burning insight into the horror of realizing the woman he loved was a vampire."

"It had to be scary," Alaric said.

"I managed just fine," Damon said.

"Yeah, but you're not normal."

"Never claimed to be," Damon said and opened the freezer. "Go on, I know you're itching to look at that stuff."

Alaric let himself be dismissed, only because Jeremy would have heard them if he'd actually raised his voice, and he thought that somebody should act like an adult, just for the sake of consistency.

Jeremy was finished eating and the journals were sitting on the couch next to him. He let Alaric sit down and smiled. "Here, I put bookmarks in the most interesting places."

"Oh yeah?" Alaric took another bite, and then set the plate aside and wiped his hands carefully on a napkin. He took the first journal and opened it to the spot Jeremy had marked and began to read.

Damon suddenly appeared in the foyer and went to the door, and Elena and Stefan came inside.

"How did he know they were back?" Jeremy asked. "They hadn't even knocked."

"He must have heard them," Alaric said, and they watched the three of them interact for a couple seconds.

"Sometimes I think they're dating," Jeremy said to Alaric, who watched Elena listen to Damon and then took a seat and accepted a plate of food.

"He reminds me of a cat I had," Alaric said. "The next step is bringing her dead mice."

Jeremy's eyes widened and he looked ill. "I hope not."

"Don't be silly," Damon said when he wandered over. "I'd never leave mice on the doorstep." He leaned closer to Alaric. "A corpse is so much more meaningful."

"Restrain yourself if you can," Alaric said, and Damon grinned.

Jenna wasn't home, and Jeremy brought out a couple of beers with defiance. He didn't offer one to Damon, but that only got him a knowing look, and Damon pulled a flask out of his pocket and took a swig.

"What's the matter?" Alaric asked, and Jeremy sighed.

"I've loved two girls and both of them are gone," Jeremy said.

"Love's like that," Damon said, and Jeremy stared at him.

"What would you know about it?"

"I've been in love."

"With who?"

"A woman."

"Why aren't you together?"

"Because she decided that getting the hell out of town and away from a torch wielding mob was more important," Damon said.

"That was back in the day?"

"If by that you mean, back when the Founders Council were after vampires, then yes."

"Did you family know what she was?"

"My father figured it out eventually."

"What did he do?"

"Torch. Wielding. Mob," Damon said precisely, and smiled. "If you weren't a vampire, you were helping them, and that got you shot too."

Jeremy opened his mouth, and Damon smiled. "Do you know what Anna's mother was doing when they shot her in the back and tied her up? She was running away. Yeah, the people of this town are known for their acceptance and compassion."

"But, they had their reasons, I've read the accounts of all the supposed animal attacks at the time, and they just wanted to look out for their families," Jeremy said.

"Not all the vampires were killing people," Damon said.

"Was Katherine?" Alaric asked, and Damon glanced at him with an unreadable expression.

"She was."

"You knew that and you still loved her?" Jeremy asked.

"I knew that because I helped her," Damon said.

"Why?"

Damon shrugged. "She was teaching me."

"Yeah, but what's wrong with you?" Jeremy asked. "Didn't you care that she was hurting people?"

"Please, don't act self righteous when you were begging Anna to turn you. Maybe if you hadn't been hung up on Vicki she would have done the same."

"Shut up about Vicki," Jeremy said.

"As much as I'm not on anyone's side, it's tacky to go after one girl when you're thinking of somebody else."

"Isn't that what you do?" Alaric asked.

Damon sniffed disdainfully. "I never said not to, just that it's not in good taste."

"What about your brother, is he still in love with Katherine?"

"No," Damon said.

"But you two both dated her, so he what, told you he wasn't interested and to go for it?" Jeremy frowned. "That sounds kind of messed up."

"We both courted her," Damon said. "She just never made a choice between us."

Jeremy's eyebrows went up and Alaric cleared his throat. "I think that's all you need to say about that."

"He asked," Damon said. "You're both so keen on this town's history and what it means to be a Gilbert, I'm just sharing."

"More than you need to," Stefan said from the doorway, and Jeremy jumped.

"Oh, hi."

"Hey, Jeremy," Stefan said and shook his head at Damon. "Do you really need to go on?"

"Just trying to be helpful."

"You've never set out to do that without getting something out of it," Stefan said. "What is it now?"

"I think he's giving us advice," Jeremy said. "Either that or he's telling me I should date the same person as my sister." He gagged. "No offense, but you're not my type."

"None taken," Stefan said and stared at Damon. "Really?"

Damon ignored Stefan. "No? Then what is your type?"

"I like girls."

"What about that kid from the football team? The one that was such an ass at the wake?"

"Tyler Lockwood," Alaric said.

"He's a jock, we're not even friends."

"You don't have to be," Damon said, and Jeremy glanced from him to Stefan.

"What is this? You're trying to hook me up with somebody because you can't get a date?"

"I don't have any complaints," Damon said, and wiggled his eyebrows as he took another drink, and Alaric felt his face flush.

"No?" Stefan asked. "You had those Tri-Delts over again?"

"Not in a couple weeks," Damon said. "There are other ways to stay busy."

Alaric didn't like the way Stefan was taking in the scene, the three of them hanging out, Damon's legs extended out, not too far from Alaric's, and everything about his body language saying that he was extremely pleased with himself.

"I see," Stefan said, and Jeremy seemed to share Alaric's opinion, because he stood up and moved around all of them toward the door.

"Whatever is going on here, I don't think I want to be filled in. Mr. Saltzman, if you want to borrow any of the journals, go ahead."

"Thanks, Jeremy, I might do that."

"Think about what I said," Damon said, and Jeremy was stumped for an answer, and then settled on nodding hurriedly and then he hurried out of the room.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked Damon.

"Answering questions," Damon said.

Stefan was obviously grappling with a reply. "Why?"

"Nothing better to do."

"I'm sure there's any number of things you could be doing a safe distance from here," Stefan said.

"But I made dinner."

"It's very good," Elena called out from the kitchen, and Damon grinned at Stefan, who groaned.

"Yes, you're a great cook, I'm delighted that you've been able to win people over through your cooking, but do you have to scare them too?"

"Ric isn't scared, are you?" Damon asked, and passed Alaric the flask as he waited for him to speak up.

"Not really," Alaric said.

"You're sure this is okay?" Stefan asked, and Alaric met his eyes as he remembered Stefan telling him that he wouldn't be safe if Damon knew why he'd come to Mystic Falls, and the way that Damon had, even while drunk, deflected every single one of his attacks like it was almost beneath him to notice.

"It's fine. I've got some stuff to read, I can ignore him just fine."

Damon was pouting, and Alaric tried not to notice. "If he gets on my nerves, I'll just punch him again."

"That's one way to deal with him," Stefan said, and now was giving both of them a hard look that made Alaric sit up a little straighter and stare fearlessly back. He wasn't doing anything wrong, and so long as Damon didn't act any more outrageous than usual, he wasn't going to get up and leave for a while yet. "Okay, if that's it, I'll be upstairs if you need me."

"Go on, and have fun," Damon said, and Stefan snorted as he turned away.

"Do you always have to be so contrary?" Alaric asked.

"It's my nature," Damon said.

"Is that true? You and Stefan were both dating Katherine, even when you knew she was a vampire?"

"We both knew, but only one of us wasn't being compelled every two seconds so he wouldn't go running for help," Damon said, and Alaric heard a note of bitterness in his voice.

"Stefan wasn't okay with it?"

"Have you seen him around blood? He couldn't handle a skinned knee without having a breakdown, he has to be eased into these things, preferably when he's had a few drinks."

"But not you."

"No, I knew what was going on the whole time."

"You didn't have a problem with it?"

"Not once."

"Why not?"

Damon shrugged. "It's not like we were fighting over pillows."

Alaric let out a breath he'd been holding in. He hadn't wanted to ask outright, but there were times when he wondered if there were any boundaries that Damon wouldn't push.

"Besides," Damon went on, "Some of us are better at sharing than others." His eyes were dark.

"That's enough," Alaric said.

"You asked."

"This is one of those times when you don't have to go into so much detail." He picked up the journal he'd been reading and one other. "Since Elena and Stefan are back, I'd better be going."

Damon made a noncommittal noise and Alaric interpreted it as a farewell and said goodbye to Jeremy on his way out the door.

That was what his life had become, hunting vampires whenever one turned up,, then he was a regular at the Grill, but not at the bar, and Elena and Jenna had decided that he needed to come over once a week, and that often included the Salvatores. It wasn't anything like his family back in Boston, but Alaric had discovered that he was adjusting and while he was sitting on the porch with Elena, he came to the conclusion that he was part of this family, and he didn't put himself outside anymore.

"Where's Stefan tonight?"

"He and Damon were playing chess when I went home."

"They play chess? With each other?"

"I don't know how long it's going to last," Elena said. "One of them will probably show up later." She regarded him closely. "Why, did you have plans with Damon?"

"No, I don't ever have plans with Damon," Alaric said, but got a snicker from Elena.

"I don't mean to be rude, but have you noticed how much time you spend together?"

"I hadn't thought about it." Doing that would give him a headache, and Alaric had enough of those. "Did he say something?"

"This is scarily like talking about any normal guy," Elena said, and Alaric acknowledged that he sounded like he was back in high school.

"I'm not worried whether he has or not, I was just curious."

"He asked what we were doing in class, and he was correcting Jeremy's homework at the end of the quarter."

"I did wonder about some of those answers," Alaric said. He hadn't brought it up, because there had been other things to deal with, but it was good to know.

"Stefan said he likes to leave notes in the margins of his assignments," Elena said.

"I should tap into that," Alaric said, and Elena raised an eyebrow.

"How?"

"I've thought it might be nice to have a T.A."

Elena shook her head firmly. "That can't go anywhere good."

"It would keep him busy. Speaking of school, has Damon ever been to college?"

"He's dated college girls," Elena said. "That's it, I don't think he has the patience to hang out on a campus for that long."

"It's too bad," Alaric said and received another searching look.

"Please don't try and tame him with academics."

"I wouldn't, I'm sure there are more effective ways of rewarding good behavior."

"And I'm positive I don't want to know what you're considering."

"I would have to agree." Alaric smiled at Elena. "I know you'd like to warn me off."

"If it helps, I don't know if it's for your good or his,"" Elena said.

"He can't actually hurt me, not unless he gets my ring away from me," Alaric said, and Elena looked down.

"I wasn't thinking of that, but with Damon it's smart to have some safeguards."

"What do you use?"

"Vervain, and we have an understanding, it's kind of complicated."

Alaric nodded. "I can sympathize."

"But you're not giving up," Elena said. "I don't want to be rude, but it matters to us what happens between you two."

"Stefan talked to you."

"He did, but I'd picked up on it already." She eyed him. "You go out and drink together and you called him when you needed help with that thing last weekend that neither of you have talked about with anyone else."

"I did." Alaric wished he had the privacy to get blindingly drunk, it was either that or hit himself in the face, because it was obvious what had been happening, and he'd been so comfortable with it on some level that it hadn't caught his attention. "Well, this is disconcerting," Alaric said.

Elena still looked worried and Alaric put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, it's just a lot to process."

"I can imagine," Elena said. "Did you want me to tell Damon to call you?"

Alaric shook his head. "That's never been an issue, he'll find me later."

"That doesn't worry you?" Elena asked.

"How would it help?"

"If it really does, you can do something about it." Elena breathed heavily. "Or I could talk to him."

"Damon does exactly the opposite of what people ask just to see them get mad, I don't think that's the best idea."

"But if he's bothering you-"

Alaric smiled. "How do you know it's not mutual?"

Elena leaned back slightly and gave Alaric a longer look, this one more assessing than he was entirely comfortable with, but he gazed back, still smiling, and she got to her feet.

"In that case, I'll leave you to it."


End file.
